Newslinks for Wednesday 31st August 2016

May to ‘give MPs a say’ on European relationship

‘Theresa May will not hold a second referendum on the terms of the exit deal she negotiates with the European Union, Downing St has said. The prime minister has also ruled out holding a general election after a Brexit deal has been completed. “The prime minister is very clear there will be no second referendum,” a No 10 spokesman said. “There is no need for a general election either.” Downing St also indicated that MPs would not be given a vote over triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, the official process for leaving the EU. Once it has been triggered, Britain has two years to negotiate a new relationship while still inside the bloc. However, the spokesman said MPs would be given “a say” of some kind on what Britain’s future relationship with the remaining 27 member states will be like. He said that the prime minister was under no legal obligation to hold a vote on Article 50 before it was invoked.’ – The Times (£)

Cabinet to discuss diverse Brexit scenarios today

‘Civil servants have been asked to assess the impact of a wide range of Brexit scenarios, from full membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) to a system under which some Europeans would need visas just to holiday in Britain. Theresa May gathers her cabinet at Chequers on Wednesday with Brexit at the top of the agenda, and the scenarios exercise has already started to expose potential divisions in government.The scenario planning is taking place across government with reports expected to be fed into the Brexit department run by David Davis. However, the findings are likely to remain internal. Some officials at the Foreign Office are pushing for “as much Europe as possible” while others in the Home Office are reluctant to consider full EEA membership or single market access because their priority is an immigration clampdown, according one Whitehall source. They said government departments were thinking of the possible forms that Brexit could take along a “continuum” stretching from heavy access to the single market with limited restrictions on immigration to stringent border controls alongside trade tariffs imposed under WTO rules.’ – Guardian

Rudd and Cazeneuve recommit to Le Touquet’s Calais border controls

‘Amber Rudd and her French counterpart have stressed the importance of UK border controls in Calais after holding talks. The Home Secretary and Bernard Cazeneuve reiterated their commitment to the ‘juxtaposed’ controls following a meeting in Paris. The discussions came after a French plan to let migrants lodge UK asylum claims in Calais sparked a major borders row. Asked about presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for a processing centre in England to deal with asylum requests from those in Calais, the No 10 spokesman declined to speculate on the position of a possible future French administration. He pointed out that it was Mr Sarkozy, in a previous stint as interior minister, who first struck the Le Touquet deal with the UK.’ – Daily Mail

Downing Street ‘invites’ Apple to open-for-business Britain

‘Apple would be ‘welcome’ in Britain after a landmark EU ruling ordered it to pay back £11billion in tax to Ireland following it’s ‘sweetheart deal’, Downing Street said today. Number 10 said ‘Britain is open for business’ and Theresa May’s official spokesman described the UK’s Corporation Tax as ‘one of the lowest in the world’ as it suggested the tech giant could move its European headquarters to London. Experts believe that a post-Brexit Britain – with an economy free from Brussels – could be able to attract companies such as Apple with its own tax deals. Apple has already threatened to cut EU jobs and investment after it was told its sweetheart deal with Ireland amounted to illegal state aid. It was ordered to pay back £11billion in a landmark ruling today – the biggest tax bill ever imposed outside the US.’ – Daily Mail

Over 50 MPs, including Corbyn and Cameron, received weekend death threats

‘The Metropolitan Police is coordinating the probe, in response to an explicit threat made to more than 50 politicians across Britain. A photograph of a decapitated man has been sent to the MPs being targeted, with an email which says: “I will kill you and your family.” It is understood that additional security has been put in place for those targeted, with SNP MPs Douglas Chapman and Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh among the politicians who have received the death threat. In a statement to Express online, Chief Superintendent Naylor said: “I can confirm that a number of threats were sent to several politicians on Friday evening, and which have been reported by them or their staff.” He added: “Police are following a positive line of enquiry.”’– Daily Express

John Rentoul: Corbyn’s brave old world

‘My heart lifted when I received the email from the Jeremy For Labour press team. It said that the candidate for the Labour leadership was going to launch a policy to “democratise the internet” today. Long overdue, given the stranglehold on online debate maintained by corporate interests and the mainstream media. There followed a list of proposals, ranging from mother pie to applehood, although the appendices of unintended consequences and how the vast cost would be met had been left off my version. In addition someone who couldn’t format bullet points in an email seems to have written the list, which was an ingenious way of expressing solidarity with of those of us for whom new technology is a struggle.’ – Independent

Trump to visit Mexico today

‘Donald Trump will visit Mexico on Wednesday and meet President Enrique Peña Nieto in what could be a seminal moment in the presidential election campaign. The Republican candidate will then return to Arizona to make a much-anticipated speech on immigration on Wednesday evening. One of the Mr Trump’s core policy pledges has been that he wants to build a wall between the US and Mexico to stop illegal immigration. He has insisted he will make Mexico pay for the wall they do not want to be built.’- Daily Telegraph

Please use the thread below to provide links to news topics likely to be of interest to ConservativeHome readers and to comment on political topics that haven’t been given their own blog. Read our comments policy.